A Centric SharePoint migration assessment is a structured, time-boxed engagement (typically 2-6 weeks depending on environment scale) that converts your assumptions about source environment, customizations, integrations, and risk into evidence the migration plan can rely on.
It is the cheapest, lowest-commitment way to know what a SharePoint Online migration would actually look like in your environment - the scope, the timeline, the risks, the cost, the partner fit. Most Centric SharePoint Online migration engagements start here. This guide walks what the assessment is, what we examine, what you get out of it, who it is for, how it works, what happens after, and how to prepare.
It is written for US buyers ready to engage Centric on a SharePoint Online migration - CIOs, IT leaders, infrastructure architects, SharePoint administrators, program managers, and digital workplace owners.
What the Assessment Is
The assessment is a focused engagement to produce three artifacts: an evidence-based inventory of your source SharePoint environment, a prioritized risk register, and a defensible migration plan recommendation that an executive sponsor can review.
It is not a generic readiness check; it is a structured audit that produces decisions. The assessment runs typically 2-6 weeks with a small Centric team, in collaboration with your SharePoint, identity, security, and business-unit stakeholders. The output drives every subsequent decision from tooling selection to wave design to cost proposal.
What We Examine?
The assessment covers the eight audit categories that drive SharePoint Online migration decisions.
- Site and content inventory: sites, libraries, lists, item counts, storage volume, file size distribution, version history depth.
- Permissions audit: SharePoint groups, AD/Entra ID mapping, unique permissions, broken inheritance, external sharing.
- Customization inventory: full-trust solutions, sandbox, SPFx extensions, classic workflows, custom timer jobs, InfoPath forms.
- Integration inventory: Salesforce, Dynamics, Teams, Power BI, Outlook, ServiceNow, SAP, Workday, DocuSign, Adobe Sign, LOB systems.
- External sharing audit: current external collaboration, target policy, cleanup decisions.
- Compliance and records: retention policies, sensitivity labels, DLP, eDiscovery, legal holds, industry-specific requirements.
- Storage and quota: source volume, projected growth, target sizing, multi-geo decisions.
- Identity readiness: Entra ID Connect health, conditional access, MFA, app registrations, Microsoft 365 group strategy.
What You Get?
Three concrete deliverables come out of the assessment.
- Evidence-based source inventory with the eight audit category outputs, formatted for executive review and detailed enough for engineering planning.
- Prioritized risk register covering the seven SharePoint migration risk categories - data loss, permissions, custom code, downtime, integration, adoption, compliance - with named likelihood, impact, and mitigation.
- Defensible migration plan recommendation: target architecture, tooling selection, wave design, timeline, cost range, and engagement model recommendation.
The deliverables are formatted for both executive sponsor review and engineering-team use, with a structured executive readout meeting at the end of the engagement. General guidance, not legal or compliance advice; consult counsel and your security function on regulated content findings.
Who the Assessment Is For?
The assessment serves multiple roles inside a US enterprise.
- CIOs and IT leaders: building the business case and executive sign-off for a migration decision.
- IT directors and program managers: scoping the program and selecting the partner.
- Infrastructure architects: understanding target architecture and tooling fit.
- SharePoint administrators: getting an honest evidence-based view of the source environment.
- Digital workplace owners: aligning SharePoint Online with the broader workplace strategy.
- Security and compliance leads: reviewing compliance, records, and external sharing posture.
How It Works?
The assessment follows a defined cadence.
- Week 1: kickoff, stakeholder interviews, automated inventory tooling deployed against source environment.
- Weeks 2-3: integration owner conversations, customization review, identity and security audit.
- Weeks 3-5: compliance and records audit, external sharing audit, risk prioritization.
- Final week: synthesis, executive readout preparation, deliverable handoff.
The cadence flexes for larger or smaller environments; the discipline does not change. The engagement is typically priced as a small fixed price or T&M and is structurally a small fraction of total program cost.
After the Assessment
What happens after the assessment depends on the outputs and your decision. Most engagements move from assessment into a fixed-price or phased-fixed-price migration project proposal, with the assessment outputs becoming the scope foundation.
Some engagements pause at this stage if the outputs surface findings that need executive review or budget alignment. A small subset of engagements conclude at the assessment if the buyer chooses to delay migration or take the work in-house - the assessment outputs are yours to keep regardless. (See Centric SharePoint migration project pricing for the engagement models that typically follow.)
How to Prepare?
Preparation for the assessment is light.
- Stakeholder availability: identify the SharePoint, identity, security, compliance, and business-unit owners who will participate in interviews.
- Access: SharePoint admin access for inventory tooling, identity system read access, integration system contact lists.
- Documentation: existing inventories, governance documents, integration documentation.
None of these are blocking; the assessment team works with what is available and surfaces gaps as findings.
How to Request the Assessment?
The request process is simple. Reach out through the Centric SharePoint migration & integration page or directly to the Centric team. A short initial conversation establishes scope, scale, and timing. A scoping proposal follows within a defined window.
The assessment kicks off when the proposal is accepted. The whole pre-engagement cycle typically takes 1-3 weeks from first contact to assessment kickoff. Centric runs SharePoint Online assessments and migrations through its SharePoint migration & integration practice, as part of the broader Centric SharePoint consulting practice.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does the assessment take?
Typically 2-6 weeks depending on environment scale and complexity. Smaller mid-market environments often fit in 2-3 weeks; large enterprises with complex source environments extend.
What does the assessment cost?
Pricing depends on environment scale and is structurally a small fraction of total program cost. Specific pricing comes from a scoping conversation.
Do we have to commit to the migration project after the assessment?
No. The assessment deliverables are yours regardless of next steps. Most buyers choose to proceed; a small subset choose to delay or take work in-house. Either is fine.
Who participates in the assessment from our side?
SharePoint admins, identity owners, security and compliance leads, integration owners, and business-unit stakeholders. The Centric team coordinates schedules to minimize disruption.
What if we have multiple SharePoint environments?
The assessment covers all environments in scope, including multiple tenants, hybrid configurations, and source systems beyond SharePoint (file shares, OneDrive, Box, Dropbox, Google Drive). Scope is defined upfront.
How sensitive is our data during the assessment?
The assessment uses read-only inventory tooling and structured interviews. No production content is moved during the assessment. Data security and compliance leadership are typically involved early.
Can the assessment cover hybrid scenarios?
Yes. Hybrid SharePoint deployments are explicitly covered, including identity federation, search federation, and the consolidation path to pure cloud where applicable.
Conclusion
A Centric SharePoint migration assessment is the structured, time-boxed step that converts assumptions into evidence and produces the artifacts every downstream decision depends on.
It is the cheapest, lowest-commitment way to know what a SharePoint Online migration would actually look like in your environment. Most Centric engagements start here; the ones that do consistently land migrations on time, on budget, and with adoption that delivers business value.
